Last Day at Greenwood P.S.

Today is definitely one to remember. I’ll start this post off by talking about yesterday first. The day started off pretty normal but the kids were just coming up to me and smiling and then walking off giggling and Liv said, “Miss Boehme, I am very excited about something that is happening today” I didn’t really know how to respond but I was thinking they were planning something pretty special. During morning news, Kerri-Anne’s class came into our room and all the kids yelled Surprise! It was funny because I didn’t really know what they were surprising me with so Kerri-Anne said, “who would like to tell Miss Boehme why we are saying surprise?” Of course, Danny was the first to put his hand up and he said, “We would like to have a surprise lunch for you because we are going to miss you when you leave.” It brought tears to my eyes and I knew that I couldn’t lose it then because I still had another day! Anyway, the day was pretty cruisey and we had a lunch with TA 8 and 9. TA means teaching area and they say that instead of room number. It was a lovely lunch and all of the kids from both classes brought something in for it. So that was the highlight of yesterday but then today was a day of many tears.

This morning Kerri Anne picked me up as usual and we headed to school for the last day of the term. I made some Star Student Certificates for the kids for being such great students for me and I put some sparkly pens and cool erasers in a bag for them, which they loved! It took a while for me this morning to print them, cut them and laminate them. They were on A5 sheet of paper which is about ½ a sheet. Anyway, the morning was easy peasy because the kids made Easter baskets for the Easter bunny to come this afternoon. Tanika wrote me a note that said, “Miss Boehme, I’m not sure if they have Easter in America but Happy Easter anyway”. So after the morning of Easter card making and all that, we had morning tea. This was the first break down of three that I had today. They had decorated the staff room in Australian flags and had Aussie animals and everyone was in there to have a farewell morning tea for me. It was lovely and so nice of them. So we are just happily eating away and chatting and then Ian, the principal, gets up to say a few words. As he is talking, I just can’t hold it in and I am trying my hardest but I start crying and then when I am saying a few words I start crying even more and then the staff start crying and it really made me realize how they have been my family since I have been here and I really will miss them a lot. I have spent majority of time at the school because we usually get there at 7 am and don’t leave until after 5 most days. I have had pilates with them every Tuesday, been to a staff dinner, and of course Friday afternoon drinks is always special. I have enjoyed getting to know all of them, but I have spent the most time with Kerri-Anne with car rides, trips to the shops, and road trips with her brother, Mat. She has been my Aussie BFF and I am so thankful that I have met her. I reckon we will stay in touch and maybe she’ll come to AL one day! So after morning tea I went to each of the classrooms to say good bye to the students. I went to the Year 6/7 class first and as I was saying good bye to them I started crying again. I don’t really know why because I haven’t spent much time with them at all, but Georgia and Luke are the Head Girl and Boy of the school and I have gotten to know them pretty well because they are the student leaders. Luke brought me a box of chocolates and a card and Georgia came to say good bye again at the end of the day. They are wonderful leaders and I am so happy I got to meet them as well.   I guess seeing them in the class brought the tears to my eyes, but when I said my goodbyes to the other classes, I was alright. But then when I came back to my class, they presented me with quite a few gifts. They all signed a uniform shirt for me, the framed a class picture, and got me lots of Aussie Souvenirs. I was crying as I was opening the gifts and Owain said, “Miss Boehme, you need to stop crying because you’re going to make me cry.” They are such a wonderful class and it makes me teary eyed typing this and thinking back on the last 12 weeks with them. I am so thankful that I decided to come here for my student teaching because I have gained so much more than I would have if I stayed in Auburn. Not that I wouldn’t have loved it, I know I would have, but I have learned so much more being here and I feel like I have grown from this experience.

I have just finished packing most of things, and I am looking forward to relaxing tomorrow before I have the longest day of my life. Tomorrow I am meeting Kelsey in the city for breakfast. I don’t know if I told you about Kelsey but I met her on the plane ride over here. She has just recently graduated from Notre Dame and is studying at University of Western Australia for her masters. We sat next to each other on the plane ride over here and exchanged contact info so we could stay in touch while we were here. We haven’t been able to see each other again but we are planning to do so tomorrow since it is my last weekend. She will be here for the next 2 years and will most likely move here because her boy friend is here. She came here in 2008 to study abroad and met him here and decided to do her masters here. Pretty cool story. Anyway, I’m having breakfast with her and then meeting Kerri Anne for lunch then having a BBQ at Jan’s with Tracy’s family and then John will pick me up at 3:30am for my flight home!

I think this will be my last post until I return to the states. I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my adventures in WA. Thank you all for your love, prayers, and support. Love to all.

Psalm 107:8

P.S. Can you figure out this code?            9.71520.1325.1415195.169518354.

Photos

Balingup, WA

This weekend I went to the Small Farm Field Day in Balingup with Kerri-Anne’s family. Her brother, Mat, drove us down there on Friday afternoon straight after school to meet her parents there. We left about a quarter to 4 and didn’t get there until close to 8. The traffic was pretty bad but it was a fun road trip. The three of us together reminded me of Pete, AB, and me. I can’t wait to be reunited with those little rascals! I want to play mean dog, release the cougar and the everlasting car game when I get home!! haha oh the mems we have together! I am so blessed to have them and I seriously do not know what I would do without them. 4 days baby! Anyway, the house was awesome and her mom lives down there full time and her dad goes down on Thursday or Friday and stays until Sunday night. They have a lot of property with alpacas, sheep, chickens and dogs. The alpacas look like a llama. They had several grown ones and a cute baby one too. Mat and I fed them on Saturday morning. I also got to hold a chicken, they call them chooks! And the coolest thing that I did down there was ride a camel! It reminded me of the annual church picnic when the kids ride the pony or horse around for a lap or two except I was on a camel! It was pretty awesome. The one that Kerri-Anne was on kept making noises at me and was getting really close to me, I thought he was trying to bite me or something. The farm field day had lots of food booths and market type booths set up for people around Balingup to sell the things they make. I liked being out in the country and seeing farm life for a change. All of the towns around Balingup end in the suffix ‘up’. Mat said that in those cases ‘up’ means ‘the place of’ so I think they are indigenous names. My favorite name was Manjimup. There was also Nannup, Karnup, Dardinup and some others. Kerri- Anne and I walked around the town and went into the shops and took us about 20 minutes that is how small it was. And we even went into the stores and were just strolling around taking our time. I bought a new puzzle. I thought it was going to be similar to the difficulty level of Tangram Master but it is easy peasy japanesey. Kerri-Anne’s mom is a wonderful cook and she made kangaroo the first night and I actually liked it. They are a cute animal but I tried not to think about that too much. Saturday night her dad put a lamb on the spit. I think that is the way to say it. I was tasty too!

Sunday morning we went for a drive to see if we could find some wild emu’s and roo’s. We were successful but it took as a while and I don’t think we are really sure where we went but I reckon it was a nice little country side drive. Then we got a meat pie at the Magic Mushroom Restaurant and came back to Perth. We made it back by 3:00 which was plenty of time for me to get ready for Palm Sunday church. Brittni picked me up and I was really glad that it worked out for me to go one last time to Kingsley. During the announcements, the pastor, mentioned that it was my last week there and they have enjoyed having me be as a part of their church for the past few months. I really am so happy I have had the experience to get to know them and I hope I can keep in touch with them. Ash and Steve’s dad said the opening prayer and he mentioned me and asked that I have safe travels. It made me feel like I was part of their church family even though I have only been there a short time. They have a solid congregation and I like that it is a small church because everyone knows each other and they are caring and you get the feeling that they are a family as you walk in.

Tomorrow starts week 12 of Term 1 which means I only have 2 more school days and then Wednesday to pack and say my goodbyes and then I’m comin home!

John 17

Last SPLAT

Tonight was the last SPLAT. :( We had a bbq and everyone brought something to go along with it. Everyone really liked the pumpkin pie! Brittni and Ash got me a going away gift of some TimTams of course, a West Coast Eagles scarf, a DVD of The Castle which I think is going to be a lot like Best In Show. It has a sticker on the front that says "Australia's Favourite Film". I have heard a lot about it so I am really excited to watch it! It was a great night and I dont think I can describe it any other way. They made me feel like such a part of the group and I hope to stay in touch with them for years to come. I am so blessed and so thankful for all that I have been blessed with. I only have 4 more days of teaching left and I know I am going to be a mess when I have to leave the kids on Tuesday. This has been one of the best things I have ever done. I havent even really talked to my family in a few days because I have run out of money on my phone and havent added more so Mama and Daddy, just know that I am safe and I miss you but I will see you in 8 days! Ill top off my phone this weekend to touch base. Love y'all!

Colossians 3:23

Pumpkin Pie!

Tonight was a successful baking night! Thanks, Grandma, for sending me your famous recipe! It was a lot of work trying to figure out the measurements, good thing I have become pretty good with conversions to and from the metric system! Kerri-Anne and I left school pretty much straight away to go to the shops to get all the ingredients. We bought enough to double the recipe so that we could eat some tonight after dinner and have enough for bible study tomorrow night. So we went to the shops and bought butternut pumpkin, about 2.5 kg which is a little over a pound. We had to cut it up and then boil it. After it was boiled we mashed it and used a mixer to make it smooth then we added all the spices and the evaporated milk and then we baked it! I was so thankful that we found pie crust at Woolworth's! They were really good pie crusts and made the pie taste delicious! I have some left over pie filling so I will make some more for Tracy and Monique and probably even one for the staff room so the other teachers can try it. I think it is crazy that no one here has ever tried it and they think it is crazy to think of pumpkin in a pie!

School is starting to get to that point where the kids are in need of a break and the teachers are as well. It is hard to get them to focus and it feels like the week before Spring Break back home. I think next week since it is only two days, we will just do easy stuff and probably lots of crafts for Easter and ANZAC Day. ANZAC day stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and it is like their Memorial Day. We are having a ceremony on the last day of school and the children lay wreaths in memory of the lost souls from WWI. I hear it gets pretty emotional and it is a much bigger deal here than our Memorial Day. I'll have to let you know more about it next weel.

My students are starting to write me cards and little things that say they are going to miss me and all that and Jade gave me a stuffed koala as a going away present. It is really cute and I know I will never forget this class. They are just awesome. I dont know if I have said this yet, but I taught them how to say "War Eagle, Aubie!" So cute!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNT JUDY!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY!

Psalm 31:14

AOII my AOII

Every week I get the AOII announcements through email. The past two years I never read a single announcement email because I already knew everything that was going on in the chapter because of Leader’s Council meetings and all that. So this semester I have been reading them diligently, even though I cannot partake in any of the events, I still like to know what is going on. That organization has been a huge part of my college career and I love those girls so much. This past weekend at the zoo I saw a red panda which was the coolest thing because our color is Cardinal (red) and our mascot is the Panda! The red panda doesn’t really look like the pandas we know and love from China but I thought it was still pretty cool! Anyway, in today’s announcements they were giving the dates for all the senior information as we get ready for graduation. One of the main things I was sad to miss out on was going to be my senior formal, senior chapter, and senior dinner. My pledge class has been through a lot together and I was really bummed when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to attend any of those things. Well, I think you can tell where I am going with this. It just so happens that I can now make it back for all of those things! The chapter voted on which day they wanted to have formal and they voted to have it on Good Friday in Birmingham! I have to check with the advisors to make sure it will be okay for me to make an appearance but I just want to stop by to say hello to all my “sista girls” while they are all cuttin’ a rug down at the dance! And then I will go to Auburn that next Wednesday for the senior chapter so I can give my senior speech and listen to all my BFF’s give their speeches as well! Then Thursday night we are going to Provino’s for a fancy dinner and then some of us will be going to Opelika for the Drew Holcomb concert!! I am so excited about that because he was in Montgomery around November and I really wanted to go but it didn’t really work out so I am super pumped that he has back and the tickets were only $10! He is an incredible Christian artist and I am very excited to see him live. One of my favorite quotes ever comes from his song “Live Forever” He says, “Take courage when the road is long/Don’t ever forget that you’re never alone.” He is pretty much awesome and sings with his wife, Ellie. So yea, I am pretty excited about that week because then I will head back to Birmingham on Friday for the St Elias Food and Cultural Festival!! Zalybeh and kibbie sandwiches better be ready for me!! Woohoo!!

Philippians 3:13-14

Kiwi Music

Great time this weekend had by all...

Saturday: Went to the Perth Zoo in the morning with Catherine. Pretty much have seen all the animals before but I got to see a Tasmanian Devil and that was awesome. It's an ugly animal that literally just runs in circles for long periods of time. Went shopping at Harbour Town. Its like the outlet mall. Got some really great deals and it was nice being in the city. Came home to get ready to go out to eat with Catie and her cooperating teacher and friends. We went to Mount Lawley for dinner and then to a pub to meet some more of their friends. It was nice to get out because we don't really do that all that much. I really wanted to go to the Casino on Saturday night but it was going to be like a $60 cab ride or something like that and it just didn't really fit in our schedule. Anyway, Mount Lawley was a nice part of town and one of the guys with us was a Kiwi (person from New Zealand) so that was kinda cool. We listened to some kiwi music. There was a song called "Slice of Heaven" that was pretty good. Check it out by clicking on the link I have provided! Slice of Heaven

Sunday: Brittni picked me up for church and she was on roster for tea so I helped her setup and then after church I helped her served the cuppas! It was fun, I really like the people at that church and will miss them. They are having a going away party for me next Wednesday night and I am really looking forward to that. I am going to attempt to make Grandma's famous pumpkin pie because they don't have pumpkin as a sweet over here, only savoury dishes. I hope I can make it taste good cause they don't have the canned pumpkin. I'm going to have to boil it and then mash it before I can make the pie. They do have pie crust which is a relieve cause I thought I was going to have to make that from scratch as well! Not that I couldn't do it, I just didn't realize it would be so much work! Ill let you know how it turns out. Anyway, after church I came home, had some left over lasagna from last night's dinner and then met Catherine up at Hillary's to do some more shopping. I got some more stamps so be on the lookout for more postcards! The buses are few and far between on Sundays so we walked to the train station to catch the bus from there instead of waiting on the one from the neighborhood stop. It wasn't really that long of a walk but we def got our exercise in for the day! The sidewalks here are called foot paths. Oh and an electrical outlet is called a power point. And an agenda or appointment book is called a diary. And they say "Cheers" for everything! I love it! Then Kerri Anne picked me up for tea (dinner) at Connie's. Her house was beautiful and right on the lake with tons of black swans swimming around. I mean it was a beautiful view. And we had a delicious dinner. We had this crab and shrimp salad, regular salad with cucumbers and avocado, steak with shrimp on top that was sort of a surf n turf type of thing, sausages and chicken on the barbie, potato bake, bread and lemon merange (sp?)  for dessert! It was absolutely lovely!

Now I am home and probably about to go to sleep. Week 11 starts tomorrow and then I will be home after 3 days of week 12. Can you believe it?!

Romans 8:38-39